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Tech Smorgasbord Archives - 4

These items are an archive of past Topical Smorgasbord items that have appeared on the RF Cafe homepage. In keeping with
the "cafe" genre, these tidbits of information are truly a smorgasbord of topics. They all pertain to topics
that are related to the general engineering and science theme of RF Cafe.

Gold foil is used on spacecraft because it is
such a good reflector of both visible light and infrared energy (up to 99%). Silver and aluminum do not
reflect infrared wavelengths nearly as well. In space the only form of heat dissipation is via radiation
into cold space - no conduction or convection is available in a vacuum. Spacecraft gold foil is composed
of a very thin layer of gold deposited on a Mylar substrate for flexibility and durability.

The Air Force accounts for
more than half of all the fuel the United States government uses each year. Go Air Force!

Whence Cometh c?

"c, that is the speed of light in vacuum, and if you ask why c,
the answer is that it is the initial letter of celeritas, the Latin word meaning speed." Isaac
Asimov in "C for Celeritas (1959)"

According to Isaac Asimov in "C for Celeritas (1959)":"c, that is the
speed of light in vacuum, and if you ask why c, the answer is that it is the initial letter
of celeritas, the Latin word meaning speed."

"Is Nerdis
AmericanusEndangered?"Popular
Science Research 2006

% of 4th graders performing < math proficiency levels
for their grade

68

Rank of 15-yr-olds in math, out of 30 industrialized
countries

21

Rank of 15-yr-olds in science performance, out of 29
industrialized nations

19

% of public middle school science teachers lacking
certification in their field

42

% of undergrad degrees awarded in science, technology,
and engineering in USA

32

% of undergrad degrees awarded in science, technology,
and engineering in Japan

64

Value of
Fabs BuiltWorldwide 1995-2006Semicon Int'l
Research

Country

$Billion

United States

74

Taiwan

72

Japan

66

South Korea

40

China

26

Europe

18

Southeast Asia

17

Total

313

Top 10
Companies
for Patent Awardsin the Year 2004
EE Times Research 2006

Japan is facing a "brain
drain" problem due to forced retirement of its baby boom generation (born 1947-49). Japan's
Stabilization of Employment of the Aged stipulates a minimum retirement age of 60, and most
companies use that age for mandatory retirement. Those born in 1947 would retire next year. An
emergency amendment passed in April 2006 extended the age to 65, but the problem looms.

Hybrid
Car MileageScientific
American Research

Make & Model

MPG

Honda Insight

56

Toyota Prius

55

Honda Civic

50

Ford Escape

31

Mercury Mariner

31

Lexus RX 400H

29

Toyota Highlander

29

Honda Accord*

28

Chevy Silverado

19

GMC Sierra

19

* Not sure how a
car gets worse mileage than a couple SUVs. New
EPA rating system expected to greatly reduce ratings for 50+ MPG models.